The only place to be

Are you seriously saying he's trying to let the team tank by picking this team? Fucking ridiculous.

I was advocating ignoring the Europa League, not the FA Cup and that doesn't detract from the fact that for months people have been putting forward cases for us being able to rely on Mikel and Lampard. But yeah, try and make it look like I'm trying to offend 95% of Chelsea fans.

Amazing that people like you who want Mourinho to come back learnt fuck all about the way to build football teams - the midfield need to win their battles for the team to win and they simply haven't. Yes Hazard would've almost certainly have done better than Marin but this team should be good enough to win. Plus we have a big game on Monday. We are losing the game in midfield yet some people will look for almost anything else to blame than that. It's fucking pathetic.

I think Rafa's been reading the players' threads on here, hence him thinking Lamps and Mikel could contend with Southampton in midfield. Just look at some of the aimless balls they've played forward and the lack of protection they offer the back four.

Thank god we have Rafa to blame for our players not performing.

I think you mean without a moment's thought.

Because he's one of the best defensive midfielders in Europe. And you're confusing 'lack of discipline' with 'leadership and experience'. Where you're going wrong is watching the match and not reading these players' threads on this website. If you read their threads you'd see how good they really are. Watching the matches they play gives an unfair impression of their quality.

Always the response. Deflect rather than attempt to answer. So you're seriously saying we should spend £80,000 on a 35 year old to come off the bench and create an impact? Can't he start games like this and create an impact?

Lol at the people afraid to criticise him in any way. He hasn't worked in the double pivot against any team that has put pressure on him yet people like you want to spend £80,000 p/w on him for games against 'weaker' teams. Him and Mikel have been anonymous this half.

Give it a rest. This isn't the fault of the front four but the midfield two of Lampard and Mikel. No protection for the back four and nothing going forward.

Isn't this the type of game people are saying we should extend Lampard's contract for?

Sorry....did Mikel just turn his head away from that ball?

It would've probably have been Pep. Jose is already our second-choice if we're being honest about things. We're constrained by a number of issues, some our own making. The propensity to sack managers means they either need to have gravitas (like Jose or Klopp) or hit the ground running. I was never that keen on Moyes because I don't know what his football philosophy is after watching his teams for almost a decade. In that regard I liked Laudrup. He's at the right point in his career, he's continued the good work in Swansea and he handles himself well. But then there's the issue of the Chelsea players respecting him - and when we say that we're essentially talking about two characters. Jose coming home could be great for the club, but he's going to be asked to do a job I don't think he's done before. There's almost as much risk with his appointment as there is with any other manager we've been linked with. The potential for success is there, but the potential for a major catastrophe is also there.

The question isn't who is better, but who is better for us. We're building a team based on a sustainable, long-term plan - let's not kid ourselves into thinking we're asking him to do the same job he did almost a decade ago.

No, I'm not. But please continue. That is unknowable and presumptuous. But you just said that you judge him on his relationship with owners. See, it's literally 6 centimetres above this sentence. Evidently. Then why are you even discussing this? :banghead: :banghead:

Did you watch much of Matic before he signed for us? Loftus-Cheek is 17, Matic was 21 when we signed him.

This is my fucking point. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: We don't know what will happen, there are no guarantees. He'll need time and we should afford him that because it would be unfair to judge him too soon. But it would be utterly moronic to pre-judge him. There are plenty of question marks over this whole appointment and to pretend like there aren't is ridiculous. Anyone not approaching this with cautious optimism needs to give themselves a slap.

Give it a fucking rest. Nothing in football is guaranteed. Are you new to this game? Are you new to sports? As for Lamps being kept on, if Jose thinks he can use him then we'll trust him but let's not pretend he's been good in the double pivot as consistently as he used to be. Hopefully Jose doesn't let sentimentality blind him to our obvious need for a top class midfielder and keeping Frank around under the right circumstances would be great. But we do have to plan for the future and it would be criminal if we stuck with the old to our detriment.

Don't quite get the hysterics in this thread. America is a growing market for football and one more match really isn't anything to get excited about.

4-3 Chelsea. Baker slots in Lampard-esque after good work by Swift down the right.

Can't see us winning this now. Absolutely on top of them and then Drummy takes off RLC (who improved immeasurably in the second-half) and Boga, bringing on Swift and the Musonda we got for free when we signed Charley Musonda.

3-1 Boga. Kiwomya skins the left-back over 5 yards and pings it across the box with some force. Boga finishes expertly on the far post with the ball coming across at waist height.

2-1 Baker. Keeper fucks up and Baker's shot from 30 yards squirms under him. The ball bounced in front of the keeper and died on the pitch, but he should've saved it.

Penalty!! 1-1. Baker's penalty well saved but Feruz beat everyone to the ball and finished perfectly. Game on.

The game's there to be won and when we've clicked Arsenal haven't been able to stop us.